Pain and suffering in football

analysis of football-related fatalities in Brazil

Abstract

In this article we aimed to describe and analyze the extent and nature of deaths related to the football spectacle in Brazil. So, we used and crossed data from different sources – field journals, academic books, reports from the Ministry of Justice and websites of security associations and of major Brazilian magazines and newspapers. We conclude that the geographic distribution of these deaths are directly related to the
“weight” of each Brazilian region. We also observed that most of these deaths are originated in clashes between fans and in conflicts with the police, caused by the adoption of reactive and repressive strategies by the police. Furthermore, we point out that many of the deaths occurred outside stadiums and involved the use of firearms, as a result of the easy access to these weapons and possibly by a change of attitude of
the most violent groups about their use.